Beethoven, Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most perfect combinations ever to have emerged from the classical music world. When the Ninth Symphony is performed at a New Year's Eve concert, it becomes an even more spectacular event. Karajan's rousing interpretation of Beethoven's most admired symphony has long acquired legendary status. Now Medici Arts is releasing it in a recording made in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on New Year's Eve 1977 in celebration of the conductor's 100th birthday this year. Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Herbert von Karajan was one of the most widely respected performing musicians appearing in the past century. He influenced fellow musicians and public taste for generations through his live appearances and recordings, especially in the role of PrincipalConductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for more than 30 years, moulding the orchestra into an ensemble of peerless power, tonal beauty and stylistic flexibility.
The Ninth is an affirmation of optimism and beauty, written when Beethoven was almost completely deaf and the final movement is considered by many to be the composer's crowning glory. It had been Beethoven's lifelong dream to set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" to music, for the poem expressed the fulfilment of Beethoven's most passionate desire: peace and brotherhood in the world. Giving eloquent voice to this plea are the world-renowned soloists Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, René Kollo and José van Dam.
This concert recording on DVD has all the elements that audiences came to expect from Karajan -- strong, elegant conducting and a truly moving musical event.

Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn, and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.

References

Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)

The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's final completed symphony, written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 16/28 October of that year, nine days before his death. The second performance, conducted by Eduard Nápravník, took place 21 days later, at a memorial concert on 6/18 November. It included some minor corrections that Tchaikovsky had made after the premiere, and was thus the first performance of the work in the exact form in which it is known today. The first performance in Moscow was on 4/16 December, conducted by Vasily Safonov. It was the last of Tchaikovsky's compositions premiered in his lifetime; his last composition of all, the single-movement 3rd Piano Concerto, Op. 75, which was completed in October 1893, a short time before his death, received a posthumous premiere.

Background

After completing his 5th Symphony in 1888, Tchaikovsky did not start thinking about his next symphony until April 1891, on his way to the United States. The first drafts of a new symphony were started in the spring of 1891. However, some or all of the symphony was not pleasing to Tchaikovsky, who tore up the manuscript "in one of his frequent moods of depression and doubt over his alleged inability to create." In 1892, Tchaikovsky wrote the following to his nephew Vladimir "Bob" Davydov:

Symphony No. 9 (Shostakovich)

Composition

The ninth symphony was originally intended to be a celebration of the Russian victory over Nazi Germany in World War II (see Eastern Front). The composer declared in October 1943 that the symphony would be a large composition for orchestra, soloists and chorus "about the greatness of the Russian people, about our Red Army liberating our native land from the enemy". On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the Revolution held in 1944, Shostakovich affirmed, "Undoubtedly like every Soviet artist, I harbor the tremulous dream of a large-scale work in which the overpowering feelings ruling us today would find expression. I think the epigraph to all our work in the coming years will be the single word 'Victory'."

David Rabinovich recalled from a conversation he had with Shostakovich on the ninth symphony in 1944 that the composer "would like to write it for a chorus and solo singers as well as an orchestra". In a meeting with his students on 16 January 1945, Shostakovich informed them that the day before he had begun work on a new symphony. A week later, he told them that he had reached the middle of the development section, and the work was going to open with a big tutti. Isaak Glikman heard around ten minutes of the music Shostakovich had written for the first movement in late April, which he described as "majestic in scale, in pathos, in its breathtaking motion".

Reception

The symphony has been highly regarded by critics and quickly became a bestseller on iTunes following its U.S. premiere.

Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times lauded the work, declaring it "late Glass at his most momentous, a significant symphony by America’s most significant symphonist." Richard S. Ginell of Variety also praised the work, saying, "The 50-minute-plus Ninth is not Glass’s biggest symphony – that would be the 97-minute, choral Fifth – but it is one of his more imposing pieces, three sprawling movements for a very large symphony orchestra." Andrew Clements of The Guardian was slightly more critical, but commended the work, noting, "If the music occasionally hangs fire, its craftsmanship, as ever with Glass, is exemplary."

Karajan - Beethoven: Symphony No.9

Beethoven, Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most perfect combinations ever to have emerged from the classical music world. When the Ninth Symphony is performed at a New Year's Eve concert, it becomes an even more spectacular event. Karajan's rousing interpretation of Beethoven's most admired symphony has long acquired legendary status. Now Medici Arts is releasing it in a recording made in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on New Year's Eve 1977 in celebration of the conductor's 100th birthday this year. Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Herbert von Karajan was one of the most widely respected performing musicians appearing in the past century. He influenced fellow musicians and public taste for generations through his live appearances and recordings, especially in the role of PrincipalConductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for more than 30 years, moulding the orchestra into an ensemble of peerless power, tonal beauty and stylistic flexibility.
The Ninth is an affirmation of optimism and beauty, written when Beethoven was almost completely deaf and the final movement is considered by many to be the composer's crowning glory. It had been Beethoven's lifelong dream to set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" to music, for the poem expressed the fulfilment of Beethoven's most passionate desire: peace and brotherhood in the world. Giving eloquent voice to this plea are the world-renowned soloists Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, René Kollo and José van Dam.
This concert recording on DVD has all the elements that audiences came to expect from Karajan -- strong, elegant conducting and a truly moving musical event.

Beethoven, Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most perfect combinations ever to have emerged from the classical music world. When the Ninth Symphony is performed at a New Year's Eve concert, it becomes an even more spectacular event. Karajan's rousing interpretation of Beethoven's most admired symphony has long acquired legendary status. Now Medici Arts is releasing it in a recording made in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on New Year's Eve 1977 in celebration of the conductor's 100th birthday this year. Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Herbert von Karajan was one of the most widely respected performing musicians appearing in the past century. He influenced fellow musicians and public taste for generations through his live appearances and recordings, especially in the role of PrincipalConductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for more than 30 years, moulding the orchestra into an ensemble of peerless power, tonal beauty and stylistic flexibility.
The Ninth is an affirmation of optimism and beauty, written when Beethoven was almost completely deaf and the final movement is considered by many to be the composer's crowning glory. It had been Beethoven's lifelong dream to set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" to music, for the poem expressed the fulfilment of Beethoven's most passionate desire: peace and brotherhood in the world. Giving eloquent voice to this plea are the world-renowned soloists Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, René Kollo and José van Dam.
This concert recording on DVD has all the elements that audiences came to expect from Karajan -- strong, elegant conducting and a truly moving musical event.

Beethoven, Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most perfect combinations ever to have emerged from the classical music world. When the Ninth Symphony is performed at a New Year's Eve concert, it becomes an even more spectacular event. Karajan's rousing interpretation of Beethoven's most admired symphony has long acquired legendary status. Now Medici Arts is releasing it in a recording made in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on New Year's Eve 1977 in celebration of the conductor's 100th birthday this year. Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Herbert von Karajan was one of the most widely respected performing musicians appearing in the past century. He influenced fellow musicians and public taste for generations through his live appearances and recordings, especially in the role of PrincipalConductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for more than 30 years, moulding the orchestra into an ensemble of peerless power, tonal beauty and stylistic flexibility.
The Ninth is an affirmation of optimism and beauty, written when Beethoven was almost completely deaf and the final movement is considered by many to be the composer's crowning glory. It had been Beethoven's lifelong dream to set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" to music, for the poem expressed the fulfilment of Beethoven's most passionate desire: peace and brotherhood in the world. Giving eloquent voice to this plea are the world-renowned soloists Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, René Kollo and José van Dam.
This concert recording on DVD has all the elements that audiences came to expect from Karajan -- strong, elegant conducting and a truly moving musical event.

Karajan - Beethoven: Symphony No.9

Beethoven, Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most perfect combinations ever to have emerged from the classical music world. When the Ninth Symphony is performed at a New Year's Eve concert, it becomes an even more spectacular event. Karajan's rousing interpretation of Beethoven's most admired symphony has long acquired legendary status. Now Medici Arts is releasing it in a recording made in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall on New Year's Eve 1977 in celebration of the conductor's 100th birthday this year. Born in Salzburg on 5 April 1908, Herbert von Karajan was one of the most widely respected performing musicians appearing in the past century. He influenced fellow musicians and public taste for generations through his live appearances and recordings, especially in the role of PrincipalConductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he led for more than 30 years, moulding the orchestra into an ensemble of peerless power, tonal beauty and stylistic flexibility.
The Ninth is an affirmation of optimism and beauty, written when Beethoven was almost completely deaf and the final movement is considered by many to be the composer's crowning glory. It had been Beethoven's lifelong dream to set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" to music, for the poem expressed the fulfilment of Beethoven's most passionate desire: peace and brotherhood in the world. Giving eloquent voice to this plea are the world-renowned soloists Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, René Kollo and José van Dam.
This concert recording on DVD has all the elements that audiences came to expect from Karajan -- strong, elegant conducting and a truly moving musical event.